Eskimos close out 2018 season with win over Winnipeg

Edmonton Eskimos Martese Jackson (30) returns a punt against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during CFL action in the last game of the season at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, November 3, 2018. Ed Kaiser/PostmediaEd Kaiser Ed Kaiser / Ed Kaiser/Postmedia

Saturday marked the final dress rehearsal for Commonwealth Stadium before the Grey Cup final on Nov. 25.

And it was a good thing the opening kickoff was at 2 p.m., because it wouldn’t even have been worth turning the lights on for the sparse crowd in attendance for a game where the result made no difference at all.

The Edmonton Eskimos are still out of the playoffs, after all, having been officially eliminated over last week’s bye, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Calgary Stampeders.

And Winnipeg, who followed up resting some key players on the way to a 33-24 loss to the Eskimos on Saturday, will still continue preparing to travel for next week’s West Division semifinal, regardless.

It was a fitting end for an Eskimos club that just couldn’t find a way to fit into an always competitive West Division, despite a promising 5-2 start to a year where they boasted the reigning Canadian Football League most outstanding player in quarterback Mike Reilly.

Or it was an early beginning on their quest for the 2019 Grey Cup.

Either way, the Eskimos ended up fifth-and-last in the West Division with a 9-9 record that would have been good enough for a home playoff game in the East this year.

And not at all the way they envisioned winning their last game of the season at Commonwealth Stadium in a year where Edmonton hosts the Grey Cup.

“No, not at all,” said head coach Jason Maas. “But like I said in the locker-room, I love the guys, I’ve loved them from Day 1. I love coaching them, love the group but I’ve never been more proud of them the way they came together this week under circumstances that were out of our control.

“To go to work and still get something out of this and come together tighter than ever, and then come out and win a football game against a great team, if you ask me. So it was a great ending to a week that was unexpected, but we made the most of it and that’s something to be proud of.”

Five minutes in, Bombers running back Andrew Harris broke off runs of four and 31 yards to capture the league’s rushing title for the second consecutive season, and the second time in his eight-year career, before calling it a day.

It led to the Bombers putting the first three points on the board on a 28-yard field goal by receiver Ryan Langford, with Justin Medlock sitting out to rest.

The Eskimos responded with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended with 1:19 to go in the opening quarter on a 17-yard touchdown reception by a diving Duke Williams, who ended up adding 45 receiving yards to his own league-leading total on Saturday.

Less than one minute later, rookie quarterback Chris Streveler hit Corey Washington for an 80-yard catch and run into the end zone to retake the lead 10-7.

Midway through the quarter, Eskimos running back C.J. Gable punched in a two-yard touchdown to put the Eskimos ahead 14-10, while also eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his six-year CFL career.

He needed 49 yards coming into Saturday, and earned the last of it to cap an eight-play, 76-yard drive.

But he wasn’t done there, carrying 18 times for 112 yards, including a 27-yard run into the end zone to open the fourth quarter, for his second triple-digit performance of the season.

Sean Whyte sent Edmonton into halftime with a 17-10 lead on a 47-yard field goal, before claiming the only scoring in the third quarter with kicks from 25 and 38 yards.

Gable’s gallop then made it 30-10 with 13 minutes left in the game, before having to stymie a late Winnipeg rally with rushing touchdowns by Johnny Augustine and Streveler to come within six points with five minutes remaining.

But the Eskimos forced a turnover on downs to set up a 35-yard last-minute field goal, before another Winnipeg turnover on downs ended it.

Playing in his final game under his current contract in Edmonton, Reilly completed 29 of 35 passes for 320 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also carried nine times for 41 yards.

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly (13) airs one out against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during CFL action in the last game of the season at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, November 3, 2018. Ed Kaiser/Postmedia

Streveler finished with nine of 15 for 190 yards and a touchdown, while running 10 times for 76 more yards and another score in place of resting starter Matt Nichols, who still made the trip and had dinner with former Eskimos and college teammate J.C. Sherritt.

“We battle, we’re always competitors on the field,” said Sherritt, who earned his 500th career tackle Saturday, while finishing with 100 on the season for the second time in his career. “I’m not happy to see him do good when it cost me a playoff spot but I’ll be cheering from him from this point on.”

In and out: Eskimos LG Travis Bond, KR Martese Jackson, DB Brandyn Thompson and LB Chris Edwards all left the game with what the club called upper-body injuries.

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